CFPB Deputy Director Leandra English is leaving the agency with plans to file court papers on Monday that will bring an end to her legal battle challenging Mick Mulvaney’s appointment as acting director, according to statements released by her attorney.
English directly attributed her resignation to President Trump’s June nomination of Kathy Kraninger as permanent acting director of the agency. Kraninger, a deputy under Mulvaney at the Office of Management and Budget, will be questioned by the Senate Banking Committee on July 19.
“I will be stepping down from my position at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau early next week, having made this decision in light of the recent nomination of a new director,” English said in a July 6 statement through her attorney.
Also, English will be calling it quits on her legal fight against President Trump over Mulvaney’s appointment in the wake of the Kraninger’s nomination. Now that President Trump has decided to seek Senate confirmation of a new director for the independent bureau, English’s attorney, Deepak Gupta of Gupta Wessler PLLC, said his client intends to “bring the litigation to a close,” Gupta said in a statement.
English has argued since Nov. 26, 2017, that she was the rightful successor of the CFPB after former Director Richard Cordray’s resignation — suing President Trump for allegedly relying on the Federal Vacancies Reform Act to appoint Mulvaney. English reasoned that the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, which created the bureau, established a “clear line of succession that calls for the CFPB’s deputy director to serve as the acting director when there is a vacancy atop the bureau,” according to the complaint.
Despite her efforts, English’s appeals failed. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, the judge overseeing her case in federal court, twice denied her request to be installed as acting director of the CFPB.
Meanwhile, at least one industry trade group has reiterated its overall concern for the CFPB’s structure under a single director. “The transition of power at the bureau was a circus, and we could witness it again in five years unless a bipartisan commission is created to give consumers the certainty and stability they deserve,” said Richard Hunt, president and CEO of the Consumer Bankers Association, in a statement.
